Shobana Chandrakumar life and biography

Shobana Chandrakumar, popularly known mononymously as Shobana, is an Indian film actress and bharatanatyam dancer. She was among the popular lead actress in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada films during the 1980s and 1990s. She won the National Film Award for Best Actress twice, for her performances in Manichitrathazhu (1993) and Mitr, My Friend (2002).

In 2006, the Government of India honored Shobana with the Padma Shri for her contributions towards the arts.

Shobana was born to Anandam and Chandrakumar, in Kerala. She is the niece of the Travancore sisters Lalitha, Padmini and Ragini, all of whom were renowned for their skill in classical Indian dance. The veteran actress Sukumari is her paternal aunt. She is single and is involved in her dance school as well as her creative pursuits full time. Her very close friends from the industry are Revathi, Suhasini & Rohini. Famous actor and renowned dancer Vineeth is related to her. She has a penchant for make up and hairdressing and often tries her hand at hairstyling with Kushboo, her co-artist whenever they acted together. Recently, she adopted a six month old girl and named her Anantha Narayani.

Shobana was trained under the Bharata Natyam dancers Chitra Visweswaran and Padma Subrahmanyam. She emerged as an independent performer and choreographer in her twenties and currently runs a dance school, Kalarpana, in Chennai. In 2006, the Government of India honoured her with the Padma Shri for her contributions towards the arts.

In 2014, the Kerala State Government honoured her with the Kala Ratna Award. In 2019, she was bestowed an honorary doctorate from Dr. M.G.R. Educational and Research Institute. In 2021, she was bestowed an Doctor of Letters degree from Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit.

Filmography:

Podaa Podi (2011)
Sagar alias Jacky Reloaded (2009)
Mere Baap Pehle Aap(2008)
Apna Asmaan (2007)
Game (2006/II)

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